Ceret - Elne

This morning was lovely; 20 degrees, just some hazy cloud around and humid. We drove down to the chateau and Mum and I sketched vines and orchards and the landscape around. I had a very comfy spot leaning against an old cherry tree but Mum found her rock a little uncomfortable.

There is actually more snow on Canigou than when we arrived.

Back for lunch and we were visited by a flock of Eurasian Goldfinches This picture was taken on
digital zoom through a window and doesn't do him justice. They are lovely little birds and I have been
seeing them on my walks and had to look them up on the internet as they are not like our, Canadian,
goldfinches.

Since walking up to le Balcon I have been raving to Mum and Dad about the view, so drove
them up so they could see it themselves.

We went to a couple of cloisters when we were last here and wanted to go again. The nearest is in Elne, sort of in the middle between Ceret, Argels sur Mer and Perpignan.

To get to the entrance we walked through a "garden" area with old olive trees, old stone walls,
flying buttresses holding up the Cathedral walls ,ruined columns and sarcophagi

and the resident cat.

The Cathedral itself is a huge, austere fortress (literally as it was the place of last refuge for the inhabitants
of Elne and the location of a massacre of men, women and children in the 12th Century) but the cloister is
a lovely quiet rectangle of stone, marble, burial plaques and carving with a garden in the centre.

The roof supports are a combination of square pillars and round columns, marble, and
carved with an amazing array of subjects. It was built in the Romanesque to Gothic eras
and all is original.

Plants. Grape vine motif on a sarcophagus.

Mythological creatures.

Animals

Patterns

A Celtic knot?

 

Off the cloister is an "archeological" room with Roman remains from a dig near Elne and a "history"
room with old documents and maps showing how Elne had a fortified upper (where the Cathedral is)
and lower town. You can still walk some ramparts.

Also off the cloister; the red and white marble door into the Cathedral

An ornate altar

A huge front door and organ. Otherwise; massive, stone and simple.

Outside the sense of ancient fortification continues.

Mum and I also bought tickets to the Terrus Museum, across the parking lot. Terrus (1857 -  1922)was an artist who was born and died in Elne (studied in Paris but spent most of his life here). He was friends with Matisse and Maillol and the examples of his art in the museum showed him to be a talented portrait and landscape artist. Lovely to see the local scenery painted so beautifully.